Voile has brewed up a sweet new design featured on their 2015 Revelator splitboard.
Backcountry Magazine agreed and recently gave the Revelator splitboard the Editors Choice Award, and for good reason! Aside from being an awesome split, it’s also one of the most affordable splitboards available. I rode the Revelator for half the season last year and it quickly became one of my favorite rides.
The Revelator has a long, stiff camber section that extends well past the bindings which makes for a very stable ride. The early rise nose and tail combined with the slight taper assures premium float in the deepest of pow. I’ve been a big fan of this shape for all kinds of terrain and conditions, it helps create a very versatile board that handles anything.
Using a lightweight Paulownia wood core they were able to cut the weight down by 1lb. making it one of the lighter splitboards out there. For sure the lightest ones I’ve been on and something I noticed the first time I took it out. The swing weight was drastically lower making kick-turns and trail-breaking a breeze and it just felt noticeably easier to walk up hill with less weight on my feet.
On the descent I had the same feelings, it’s more fun to ride and easier to turn in critical spots with a lighter rig. I think the future of splitboards is all about making the weight as close to a normal snowboard setup as possible.
“My split rides just as good as a solid, and its now 1lb. closer to weighing the same too!”
I’m also excited about the new 3° canted pucks and channel system on this board.
Instead of the old, standard inserts and pucks with disks that leave you a bit limited on stance options, Voile’s new channel puck system eliminates any issues you may have had finding that perfect stance. The new pucks are molded into one solid chunk of stiff plastic taking the moving discs out of the picture, making them way more secure on the board. I feel like I used to get a bit of flex when railing hard on the traditional setup, but this new design feels way more stable and strong.
I’ve never used a set of canted bindings before trying this board and I must say I’m hooked now. The 3° of “cant” or “tilt” on these new pucks make for a really comfortable ride. More power-transfer and less fatigue compared to a flat binding set up in my opinion. I went back to regular flat pucks for a few days and soon realized my knees liked it much better when they were aligned on the canted pucks.
Here’s a video from a few laps on the Revelator split in the Wasatch not far from it’s creation place.